Norfolk Southern Corporation,
through its Foundation, has committed $150,000 to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science,
College of William and Mary, to help purchase a state-of-the-art laboratory instrument that will provide exciting new
opportunities for addressing important questions in marine ecology and conservation.

The high-tech instrument, known as an
Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS), will allow faculty and students at VIMS to
unravel marine food webs based on the principle that "you are what you eat." Knowledge of food-web structure is
important for effective management of fisheries, tracking of migratory patterns, and predicting how pollutants move
through ecosystems.

"With Norfolk Southern's headquarters located only a few miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake, we are acutely
aware of the great need to improve water quality throughout the Bay watershed," says Kathryn B. McQuade, Norfolk Southern's
Executive VP–Planning and Chief Information Officer and a member of the VIMS Council.
"With this seed money for new analytical equipment, we can help VIMS upgrade its research capabilities and provide
greater assistance to environmental groups throughout the region."

Dr. Rebecca Dickhut, Chair of the Physical Sciences Department at VIMS, notes that the Institute currently owns and
operates several types of mass spectrometers, but none of the new-generation instruments that allow scientists to unravel
food webs based on analysis of isotopic ratios.

"The Norfolk Southern gift will help resolve this deficiency and bring us to the forefront of the analytical field,"
says Dickhut.

VIMS Dean and Director John Wells adds "We're deeply grateful to Norfolk Southern for their continuing support of VIMS
and its programs. This generous gift allows us to further enhance our efforts to provide the best science for effective
management of Virginia's marine resources."

The Institute's lack of the latest in mass spectroscopy equipment previously forced researchers to ship samples as
far away as California for analysis, and precluded hands-on training on the latest equipment for VIMS graduate students.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is a Norfolk, Va.-based company that controls a major freight railroad,
Norfolk Southern Railway Company. The company has a 20-year history of support for VIMS, including a $150,000 gift in
2003 to support the Institute's Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
(SAV) Program.